


Just Like or Like Like?

by vassalady



Category: Captain America (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Golden Age (Comics), M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1612982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vassalady/pseuds/vassalady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers has inappropriate thoughts about his 16-year-old partner. Those feelings might be returned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like or Like Like?

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to find out what the age of consent was in Virginia in 1941. Only found out today's (18). So listing this as underage, though nothing untoward happens except for some kissing.
> 
> Things I did not look up nor do I care: whether like like is a phrase kids used in the 20s and 30s.
> 
> Pretty firmly based on Golden Age Captain America, though some characterization/retconning of later years is definitely present. Mostly, I wanted to write the very first part of this fic, then realized I had to actually give it a basic plot structure. Also wanted to try my hand at the "golly, gosh, gee whiz, Cap!" Bucky of old, because who doesn't love that Bucky?

Steve has to remind himself that Bucky is just 16 years old. It’s not that young, true, but Steve’s 21 already, and he should not be looking at his partner the way he is.

Bucky talks a big game, but he’s never had any experience with the ladies. There’s no time. He is always at Camp LeHigh or out with Steve on a mission, or, on a few rare occasions, he’s out with some kids, as part of the Sentinels of Liberty campaign. Oh, Bucky complains about hanging out with little kids, but Steve watches him sometimes, and he can tell Bucky’s not quite an adult yet. He acts like a slightly older brother to most of the kids. Frankly, there are a few Sentinels who are just as old as Bucky, and even one or two older, and it’s simply Bucky’s experience as Captain America’s partner that divides them.

It also doesn’t help that Bucky is so touch-oriented. He’s always touching Steve, either a friendly shoulder bump or catching his elbow or even out and out jumping on to Steve from behind and hanging on. If Steve had a kid brother, he thinks it would be like this, except without the very not brotherly feelings that develop in his gut.

When Steve was younger, he fantasized about the sailors that hung out at the docks and picked up younger guys. Now, he’s more of the sailor, and Bucky is the young guy. Maybe that’s what he was really fantasizing about this whole time. He wanted to be the sailor, and now he is, but Bucky is just so painfully young.

The world, Steve thinks miserably as he peels another potato, is really not fair.

A sergeant yells at Steve for awhile, and he adopts a dopey grin and plays the fool. When he salutes, peel flies from his knife and hits the sergeant in the face. That just makes the sergeant angrier. Steve can barely contain his laughter.

Once the sergeant leaves, Bucky pops up out of nowhere.

“Gosh, Steve, you know you wouldn’t have to take that if you didn’t want to.”

“Now, Buck,” Steve says, feeling like an old man as he does so, “it’s important to keep our identities a secret. You know that.”

“Yeah, well, being just camp mascot sure isn’t as cool as being the partner of Captain America. Then I’d get some real respect. We both would.”

Steve adopts a mock-stern face. “You keep that up, young man, I’m going to have to report you.”

“What, and take away your KP duty from you? No way, I’ve got things to do.” Bucky grins and dodges out of Steve’s reach as he makes a grab for him.

“See you, later, Steve!” Bucky says with a laugh and a wave, jogging off.

They have a mission that night. There’s a rumor that there are some suspicious characters hanging around an old fairground, and according to Betsy Ross, who has been staking the place, they’re doing more than just squatting.

Steve keeps his gaze firmly diverted as he and Bucky change in the same tent.

It’s a little easier when they are on a mission. Steve has something to focus on, rather than just waiting for the next time Captain America is needed.

They take down a group of saboteurs who were planning on killing a senator.

“They’ve got another think coming,” Bucky says with a grin just before they go in. He jumps down before Steve can tell him otherwise, letting out a whoop and a shout of, “”Sorry for crashing the party, buckos!”

Steve shakes his head, a smile on his face, as he follows suit.

After they’ve handed over the saboteurs to Agent Ross and her people, Bucky suggests they stay out a little longer.

“They’ll have our hides when we get back, anyway, Cap. Might as well enjoy it a little!”

“Sure, Bucky. So long as we get back well before reveille.”

Bucky skips ahead, shrugging on his army jacket. He whistles a dirty tune that he picked up from hearing the men at camp. Steve appreciates the view a little too much.

Once they have both changed from one uniform to another, they find a dive full of dancing couples and a great jazz band.

Steve and Bucky both are asked to dance, and Steve just enjoys himself. He wishes it were Bucky he was dancing with, but the gal he’s with certainly keeps him on his toes. Steve catches sight of Bucky, and he’s pressed up against a girl about his age. Steve bites the inside of his cheek and focuses once again on his dance partner.

The sun is just about ready to come up once they get back to camp. The horizon has the hazy pale of just before sunrise. Steve isn’t winded, but Bucky’s dragging his feet. “Just leave me,” Bucky moans. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Step lively, Buck,” Steve says with a grin. “Or it won’t be me with an apron on this time.” Steve follows that by starting to run

That causes Bucky to shout indignantly, and he pelts after Steve, finally pulling ahead. They scramble over the wall and are in their tent before anyone notices them.

Steve holds his sides, he’s laughing so hard. Bucky throws himself, panting. “Golly, give a guy a little warning, would you?”

“And where’s the fun in that?”

The pillow hits Steve square in the face.

“I’m going to sleep. I don’t care what anyone says, they can shove it in their rear ends.” Bucky pulls his blanket over his head, still dressed in his uniform.

Steve’s laughter dies slowly, becoming short chuckles, until he sighs. Bucky doesn’t move from his cot.

Steve picks up his pipe and cuts a plug of tobacco, stuffing it carefully into the end. He lights it and draws in the smoke.

A moment later, Bucky throws the blanket off. “Hey, let me have a drag.”

Steve raises his eyebrow. “This is new.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not some little kid, I can try it.” Bucky stands and walks over to Steve. The way he moves seems more like prowling to Steve, and he finds himself numbly handing over the pipe.

Bucky wraps his lips around the end and sucks in a breath. A second later, he’s coughing and holding the pipe at arm’s length.

“Bucky! Careful!” Steve grabs the pipe away and roughly pats Bucky on the back. Bucky sits next to Steve, still coughing.

“Yuck!” he says, when he can finally catch his breath. “I don’t know how you stand this stuff.”

“You get used to it,” Steve says.

Bucky yawns and stretches before letting his head rest against Steve’s shoulder. “I’m just going to sleep right here. You don’t mind, do you, Steve?”

Steve huffs out a laugh, but it comes out a little strangled, because he’s a lot more okay with it than Bucky could ever know. “Sure, just make me late for everything. That’s fine.”

“Knew you would understand.” Bucky glances up at him, and if Steve knew better, he would say Bucky’s flirting with him, the way he’s looking at Steve.

When Bucky’s gaze breaks for a second, flicks down, just a little shy and awkward, the act of a kid not quite sure how to proceed, Steve realizes with a jolt that Bucky is flirting with him.

There’s a pit in Steve’s stomach that’s part joy, part panic, and he has no idea how to respond. He ends up just puffing on his pipe a little faster.

Bucky snorts and presses up against Steve in a different way. “Come on, Steve, do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Spell what out?” Steve chooses to play dumb, but from the glint in Bucky’s eye, he’s not fooling anyone. “Wure is getting on, maybe we should try to get a little rest before we have to get up again.

“Boy, are you dumb, Steve,” Bucky says. He stands up, a little antsy, a little frantic, a little frustrated. “How much do I have to throw myself across you to make you realize?”

Steve puffs on his pipe a moment longer before sighing and putting it down. There’s no point in the charade any longer. Half of him is still panicking, and the other half is yelling at him to just own it, to tell Bucky. “You’re a kid, Bucky. You’re only sixteen.”

“I’ll be seventeen in a month. Who cares? It’s not like anyone would know, we’re not stepping out to get married tomorrow.”

“It’s a power imbalance,” Steve says, and he feels like he’s grasping at straws. He can’t seem to tell Bucky how wrong it seems when Bucky’s still so much of a kid. “You’re the camp mascot. I’m an enlisted soldier, it would be taking advantage.”

“Jumping jaguars, Steve, that’s a load of bull. When I said, ‘make me your partner,’ that’s what I meant. Not your sidekick. Partner. We’re in this together.”

Bucky places his hands on either side of Steve’s face. “I want this, Steve. What do I have to do, strip naked and hide out in your bed? Because I will if that’s what it takes. I mean, it’ll be damn cold, summer can’t come soon enough, but hell, Steve.”

“You’re being rash and acting the fool,” Steve says. He pulls away. “And the latter’s my job.”

Bucky stamps his foot, and Steve resists pointing out that just proves his point. Half the time, Bucky is an adult; he handles himself well during missions, he conscientious of his actions. The rest of the time, he’s still a little half-assed punk, who lacks experience and self-discipline.

Well, Steve could use some self-discipline himself, with what he’s about to do.

“You’re a kid, and you need to grow up,” Steve says, and that gets Bucky mad. But before he can say anything, Steve continues, “But I do like you, Buck. I like you a lot.”

There. It’s out in the open, and he can’t take it back. Not in full, at least.

Bucky looks like he still smells something rotten, but his face relaxes after a moment, and he shakes his head. “Like you a lot? Now who’s the kid? Do you like like me or just like me?” He leans forward until he’s just inches from Steve. “Because I like like you.”

Steve gives in to the laughter. He still feels panicked, and his heart is racing, but the warmth from the knowledge that Bucky returns his feelings outweighs that. “I like like you, too, Buck.”

“See, that wasn’t hard. And very grown-up of you to admit.”

“You’re an ass, Bucky.”

“I know.” Bucky shimmies his hips a little. Then he closes the distance between the two of them.

Kissing Bucky is better than Steve ever imagined.

“Now that we’ve wasted all this time,” Bucky declares, throwing himself down on Steve, “our evenings can get a lot more fun.”

Steve lets out a little “Oomph,” as he lands on the cot, Bucky on top of him. He’s all for whatever plans Bucky has, but he does have one question that he needs answered first.

“If you were trying to catch my attention, why were you dancing with that girl that way tonight?”

Bucky rolls his eyes like that should be obvious. “Uh, to make you jealous? It’s listed somewhere in Relationships 101.”

“Must have missed that class,” Steve says.

“Because you’re an old man.”

“So old,” Steve agrees.

He kisses Bucky again, which proves to be a much more pleasant use of Bucky’s mouth than his usual quips.

Good thing Bucky like likes him back.


End file.
